


Match Point

by bookoftheazuresky



Category: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha | Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Vivid Strike!
Genre: Discussions of Past Fights, Gen, Hospitals, Injury Recovery, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 10:38:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10384806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookoftheazuresky/pseuds/bookoftheazuresky
Summary: After Vivio fights Rinne in the Winter Cup, she and her mother discuss her match and what to do about the other competitor going forward.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written post episode 8 of Vivid Strike. I kept getting tripped up by Rinne talking about Vivio like her life was all sunshine and roses, so I wanted to get into Vivio and Nanoha's perspective on the situation, as people who have dealt with much more serious issues before. We don't see Nanoha in Strike, but I think she would have definitely visited Vivio in the hospital even if she couldn't make it to Vivio's match with Rinne in the Winter Cup.

Consciousness drifted just beyond Vivio’s reach. The sensation was not worrying or unpleasant- it reminded her of luxurious mornings spent sleeping in when she had been small, curling up with one of her mamas under the early sunlight and a soft blanket. Maybe, she thought absently, it was snowing outside. The weight of a heavy down comforter seemed to have been draped over her body. She loved those days too, when the air was hushed and still and she could snuggle under the thick blanket Nanoha-mama had brought with her from Earth and watch the flakes turn everything white.

Her mama’s sweet voice trickled into her range of hearing, a low murmur pitched not to disturb. There was something…off about that though, Vivio thought vaguely. Weren’t Fate-mama and Nanoha-mama doing something right now? They hadn’t been able to come to her match…because…because…

The match! Rinne’s wild eyes under her white hair, focused on some painful memory that pushed her on. Her own determination to overcome that look, make her look at the present rather than the past. She’d never backed down against the aching depths of Einhart’s drowning eyes, had put her skills and body on the line to land the perfect blow so that she could reach the other girl at last. It was only fair to give Fuuka the same chance Vivio had.

It had cost, though. Vivio could recognize, now, that the heavy feeling was a spell to numb pain and help her sleep. But if her mama was there, it was no time to be sleeping.

Just one eye, she told herself. Her body fought back, tantalizing her with warm, dark sleep, and comfortable lassitude. But Vivio was stubborn! She cracked an eyelid, then winced at the lance of light that pierced through.

“Vivio?” Nanoha-mama sounded surprised, then pleased, “Are you awake?”

“Yes, mama,” Vivio croaked around a surprisingly dry mouth. With a beloved voice to focus on, this time Vivio’s eyes stayed open, though the bright lights made them water a bit. Her mama’s long, lovely hair was thrown over the shoulder of her Air Force uniform, the white and blue perfectly pressed as she sat in the chair at Vivio’s bedside.

“Thirsty?” At Vivio’s nod, her mama poured a cup of water from the pitcher at her bedside and held it to her daughter’s lips. The refreshing taste woke her up the rest of the way.

“Did work go okay?” Vivio asked once she had drained the cup. Her mamas wouldn’t really talk about the latest case they were working on, except that it was high priority and under Hayate again. From the hints they had let drop and the timing of their absences, it had something to do with the attacks on border settlements that had been in the news recently.

“Mmhm. It’s nice to work with Hayate-chan again. We always do great work together,” Nanoha-mama said, putting down the cup to pick up Vivio’s hand. “Our processing finished up ahead of schedule, so I was able to make it home to see you.”

“Ehehehe,” Vivio laughed, a little sheepish, “sorry to worry you.” She straightened her shoulders and tightened her grip on her mama’s hand. “I went full power and won, though! I went pow! And hit her with Accel Smash Infinity. I really showed off all my skills!”

“I know,” Nanoha-mama said warmly, “I watched the recording. Fate-chan was hovering over my shoulder the whole time. She sends her love, of course, and a wish for your speedy recovery.”

Vivio flopped back against the pillows. “It’s a little disappointing,” she confessed. “Even though I won, I wanted to continue too…!” A shake of her head. “But my leg definitely won’t be healed in time.”

“Don’t forget your cracked ribs.” A cheerful reminder.

“Thanks, mama.” A deadpan reply.

After a beat of amused silence, her mama asked, “What were you saying to your opponent during the match?”

“Oh.” Abruptly, Vivio realized that she had told her mama about Fuuka and training, but had forgotten to include the details of the new girl’s past with Rinne. “Well, it’s like this…”

She detoured back to Einhart’s meeting with the girl who would become her student, Fuuka’s initial reluctance to train in martial arts, the invitation by Rinne’s coach to come see a match and the challenges issued there. Her mama listened to the information, familiar and not, with the focus Vivio recognized from their training together- the focus of a teacher putting together all she knew of a student to make the best recommendations. Vivio lingered for a moment on Rinne’s declaration that the Winter Cup would probably be the last Under 15 tournament she would be taking part in, still something that nagged at her. The altercation between Rinne and Fuuka there. Here, her mama’s eyes went more serious than ever. Vivio summed up the background on Rinne’s bullying that Yumi had found, then touched on Miura’s hard loss.

She finished with the Winter Cup bet, that Rinne would have a match with Fuuka if a Nakajima Gym competitor took her out of the tournament. “Once I was in the ring with her again, it was really easy to see that she wasn’t enjoying herself at all. She was just…running after strength, like it would make her feel better.” Vivio frowned, thinking of Jeremiah-san and Ix, both wildly powerful and wishing they weren’t. She was in a better position than most to know that overwhelming strength brought its own problems. “So I told her I was going to win, so the person who had the right to intervene could face her.”

Nanoha-mama sat back in her chair. “That’s very serious,” she observed. “And not just for the reasons you’re thinking. You remember me talking about how I was injured, before I became an Instructor?” At Vivio’s nod, her mama continued, “If she’s throwing herself recklessly into training, she could be injuring herself. I’d like to say that her coach would catch it, but the way she said that she probably wouldn’t take part in any more tournaments…”

“That’s terrible!” Vivio promptly resolved to talk to Nove about it. Her coach calibrated their regimens precisely to avoid that problem, but she’d heard Els-san and Harry-san talking about competitors that had dropped out of martial arts due to injury or burnout even as recently as the last Intermiddle. It happened.

“But her getting physical with Fuuka-chan is more worrying, I think.” Nanoha-mama tapped her mouth with a fingertip. “I know I don’t have to worry about you getting into fights carelessly, or any of Nove’s students- Einhart-chan notwithstanding!” Her mama chuckled a little.

“Einhart-san wouldn’t do that now!” Vivio frowned a little, and tried to put the difference into words. “And even when she did…it wasn’t because she wasn’t thinking clearly. Even when she fought the Champion…” Vivio couldn’t quite describe it, but, “she always kept her form. She wasn’t lashing out carelessly.”

“And Jeremiah-chan wasn’t someone she had beaten before. A rookie fighting the DSAA Champion in the Intermiddle is very different from a veteran competitor getting physical with a rookie outside the ring. Particularly when neither of them are in their Combat Equipment.” Nanoha-mama summed up what had worried Vivio at the time. She had seen Nove slipping Jet Edge back into her pocket afterwards, and their coach had even taken each of the girls aside later and made them promise to tell her if something like that happened to them. The warning, Vivio acknowledged wryly, would probably have worked better if they weren’t all the type to run _towards_ things.

“Well, I know Fuuka-chan must be thankful to have the support of her juniors.” Nanoha-mama grinned at her. “I’m sure together you’ll be able to work out a solution to Rinne-chan.”

Vivio nodded firmly, determined. If she was disappointed that she wouldn’t be moving on, she was also satisfied that she had achieved her private goal- making sure that Fuuka got her match with her childhood friend so they could work everything out. Having come to terms with Einhart using her mama’s methods, she was hopeful that Fuuka’s strength would cut through the obstacles between her and Rinne. It was somehow easier to convey feelings in such a straightforward manner- even now, her bonds with her friends only became stronger as they competed and matched each other.

A strong foundation and a strong fist. Einhart had only become stronger with her friends behind her, and she had reached out to teach her Hegemon style to Fuuka, as Nove and Vivio had reached out to her in turn. So Vivio would support Fuuka as she had supported Einhart in this coming fight too. With the bedrock of friends and teachers to rely on, Fuuka would surely fight with more strength than ever in the coming match.

“I should introduce you to Fuuka-san sometime, Nanoha-mama. I think you’ll like her a lot.”

Her mama smiled. “I’d like to meet her too. I’m so lucky my daughter makes such good friends. It must be because you’re such a good girl!”

“Mama!” Vivio clapped hands to her flushed cheeks, embarrassed and happy at the same time.

Her reaction simply drew one of her mama’s lovely laughs.


End file.
